Designer King
by ApolloDelta
Summary: N's life changes forever when he is taken from his pokémon friends in the safe isolation of the forest to live among humans in the world Ghetsis carefully constructs for him.


Chapter 1: Stolen

On a rain-brightened afternoon, a boy of seven marched along the riverbank, laughing and mimicking the playful pale-pink Deerling strutting ahead of him. Everything in the forest smelled of rain and earth, including N—the human boy. He was no different from the pokémon hidden so deep within the forest, far away from human society.

Deerling skidded to a clumsy halt and stared at the sky before bleating to N. Sensing the forest's unease, N tilted his head towards the treetops and huddled close to Deerling to wrap his arms around her neck. "What's wrong?"

The concerned Deerling pranced away from the river, leading N into the nearby underbrush. When the faint sounds of an injured Pidove's agonized chirps came into earshot, N dashed towards the noise with Deerling following behind, feeling the injured pokémon's pain as if it were his own.

Pidove was nestled in the wet earth with its ruffled feathers filthy with mud. Its twitching right wing was undoubtedly broken. But what scared N the most was the small pokémon-inflicted gash on its breast. The pokémon in the forest were peaceful—N was certain that no pokémon would have hurt Pidove on purpose. Tightening his shoulders, N looked back up at the sky where the other Pidove chirped and circled the area, as if revealing the location of their fallen friend. He scooped the injured Pidove from the ground and held it close to his chest, resisting its squirms.

Tucked deep in the forest was a place where humans never went. A sanctuary, the place N called home. N separated from Deerling to rush Pidove to the enclave, feeling the warmth of the sun trickling through the leaves onto his skin, feeling the calmness and peace as he ran deeper into the forest.

N laid the injured Pidove in the grass under the protective shade of an ancient elm, watching its chest rise and fall slower than it should have. Not robbing the Pidove of the warmth of his touch, N knelt and called into the surrounding foliage, "Audino, please help. Where are you?"

Waiting for Audino felt like an eternity of watching Pidove breathe and feeling his own heart pound. Normally soothing, the sound of the wind caressing the treetops and pokémon making their way through the forest as normal only filled N with anxiety.

The first sight of pink peeking through the leaves caused N to leap up and wrap his small arms around the advancing Audino, who responded cheerfully. "Audio, please help Pidove. Please."

N kept his distance with a nervous hand to his face as he watched Audino sing its melodic chant that he heard so many times before. He embraced Audino again when she stopped and crawled his way over to the Pidove. The gash on its breast was healed with only a faint mark remaining, and its wing was mending. Turning around with a big smile, N exclaimed, "Thank you, Audino. Thank you, thank you!"

N knew that Pidove was safe in the enclave, but didn't want to leave it on its own. He gingerly picked it up again, patting it on the head and making his way towards the river with Audino. Pidove's filthy feathers weren't remedied by Audino's healing song, so N prepared to scrub Pidove clean.

The sound of a branch snapping in the distance made all three freeze. It was too loud—too fast to be normal. Something big was coming through the forest, and it was most likely angry. N knew something was definitely wrong when skybound Pidoves began to scatter from their trees overhead. The pokémon were getting restless. N could feel it.

Careful not to make any noise, N held the injured Pidove in his arms and hushed Audino, tugging on her arm to pull her into the thick foliage. The noisy tromping footsteps continued to get louder. Tense, N latched onto Audino's arm.

And N saw him—a human, weaving his way unskillfully through the forest towards the open riverbank. He was taller than any human N had ever seen, with long hair a pastel green like his own. His clothing was strange, and darker than any pokémon's coat in the forest after twilight. Taking a more daring peek from his hiding spot, N noticed that it wasn't just him. Two other humans trailed behind the green-haired man.

N hugged Pidove tighter when the Pidove in the sky began to chirp in alarm. N's Pidove joined the frenzy, frantically chirping and flapping its one wing in desperate attempts to fly away. N resisted its fighting squirms and shushed it loudly, petting its face with his thumb and anchoring it to his chest.

"What is that?" N heard one of the humans say, accompanied by three sets of untrained footsteps snapping branches as they approached. N squeezed his eyes shut and continued to pet Pidove with shaky hands.

When N saw a set of legs from his hiding spot, Pidove broke free of his gentle grasp, kicking off from his chest and falling to the ground. "Pidove, wait," N cried, jolting after it before it could hop away. N scooped up the Pidove again, but was terrified to find himself being picked up in a similar fashion.

"Boss, it's a kid. A human kid."

"What?" hissed the man with green hair, stomping closer. N struggled to get away more than the Pidove in his arms, but couldn't escape the human's strong grip. The man in green leaned down to face him. "Boy, what are you doing here? This is no place for children to be wandering around."

N sunk his teeth into the captor, causing him to yelp and recoil his arm. N made for the direction Audino fled as fast as he could, but was cornered by the humans pursuing him.

"Think he found out about our operation here, boss?"

"Hard to say."

When N was scooped up again, the man carefully left his arm out of reach from N's teeth. In N's attempts to break free, he dropped the panicked Pidove. To his surprise, Pidove didn't flee, but began pecking the man's legs in a flurry of angry chirps. The man cursed and shooed Pidove away with his foot. N's eyes filled with tears as he flailed and stretched his arms out in a weak attempt to hold Pidove again as it fled towards home.

"Contact the sages," the man with green hair announced all of the sudden, looking at N with sharp eyes. "I have an idea."

* * *

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Pokémon, or any canon Pokémon characters who appear in this story and I'm not making any money off of this.

_Notes:_ English isn't my first language and I would appreciate any feedback and constructive criticism. Huge thanks to Xelaric the Nobody for betaing this!


End file.
